The city of Bingen saw some changes toward the end of this year in terms of what’s offered in town for quick bites with the closure of two burger joints. Killer Burger, which was located downtown between Growlerz and an Insitu space, and McDonald’s, at 910 W Steuben St., closed their Bingen location doors for good Nov. 30.
“You know we always hate to see businesses go,” said Bingen Mayor Betty Barnes, “McDonald’s had been here for 20 years, and to my understanding they placed all employees at different locations, so that’s good.”
The closure of McDonald’s wasn’t as much of a surprise as Killer Burger’s, noted Barnes. “Evidently [McDonald’s] 20-year lease was up and the corporation wanted them to remodel the entire restaurant. Hopefully someone comes in and does something with that location.”
“Killer Burger was a bit more of a surprise,” said Barnes, since the restaurant had been in Bingen since 2011. “As I understand, [Killer Burger] also offered employees jobs at stores in Portland. From what I understand they opened more franchises in Portland since they opened the Bingen store and wanted to focus more on the other locations, so they closed this one.”
Both locations offered an assortment of burgers, drinks, and fries. McDonald’s has just rolled out its all day breakfast menu before the Bingen location was rumored to close.
The closing of Killer Burger was briefly discussed during a Dec. 1 Bingen City Council meeting. The closure was met with despondency from council members as well as Killer Burger representatives. “We are sad too,” said a representative from Killer Burger in an e-mail to The Enterprise. “It was a tough decision to make. Many conversations and numerous topics played into it. Too much business jargon to put into words on one message.”
Currently the Killer Burger location remains empty, but still displays the Killer Burger sign facing Steuben Street. Mayor Barnes was hesitant to guess the future of the Killer Burger location, saying that re-zoning may prompt changes to future businesses in the building.
McDonald’s concluded its 20- year operation the same day as Killer Burger last month, and offered a printed a coupon for a free Big Mac at either of its Hood River locations in The Enterprise to thank members of the Bingen and White Salmon community for being customers.
“After two locations in Hood River, the economics weren’t there to support the Bingen location,” explained previous franchise holder of the Bingen location, Jason Bustos. “Sixteen of the 18 employees remain with us. Only two people are no longer working for McDonald's, everyone was offered another job at other McDonald’s locations, either in Hood River, or the location in The Dalles.”
The old McDonald’s location was stripped of its golden arches during the beginning of December and is now available space for prospective food operations to move in.
With the departure of McDonald's and Killer Burger this year leaves room for new businesses to emerge in 2016. “I know we have another restaurant that’s going to be opened,” said Barnes, “I just don’t know when.”
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